Canvas
by I Enjoy Lurking
Summary: Yao's life is changing slowly. An old mystery to be solved and understood. Tea pair/Kouchagumi but in a slight family way.
1. Blue sky

_T-this has been stuck in my head for a really long time! It's time to release it, then! Keh~ Apologize if there are any typos!_

_**Mon chere: My dear._

_**Gege: Older brother._

_Jiao Long: Hong Kong, just because I like the name and thought it fits him per-fect-ly. _

xxxxxx

" I can't do this, at all..! " Yao slumps down to the bench after perfectly targeted Francis' foot fifteenth times during the practice. Alfred seems displeased with him giving up, as his gaze is lifted from the hamburger for the first time in his life. " But Yao! " The taller American cried. " You have to know how to dance! The prom is next week! " " Thanks for the reminder… " The shorter Chinese mutters, feeling his back aches. All he really need is a trip back home so he can rest in peace, may he be dead or not.

" But he doesn't even have a date! You are totally overacting, you lot. " Arthur – the self-proclaimed the "head" of the group – grunts loudly, wearing the ever-lasting frown on his face. " Tsk. _Mon chere_ Yao is adorable, he'll get a date soon enough. " All Yao can really feel after he heard the reply are a cold, yet small shiver running straight down his spine and a pitying look. Angrily, he jumps out of the bench, heading right to the to exit, doesn't even care to say good bye or turning back.

x

Yao walks to his wooden bookshelf, looking through it, as he grabs a book and lies down to his bed, begins reading it. This time, instead of venting his anger on the pillow, he decided to shut down and focus on the contents of the book instead. " Yao gege? " He ignored the sound, wondering where he stopped at.

" Yao gege. I need to ask you something. It's a Math problem. " Even when he hoped for the sound to quiet down and disappear, it raised up again. In his mind, he has no and absolutely no interest of solving a Math problem now, as he hides his face mumbling jumbled, out of order, incoherent words. " Yao gege. If you don't come out now, I'll ask Arthur. " The sentence immediately gets Yao going. He's been competing against that British for quite awhile, so he can't get something as trivia and as inessential as this to make him loses any points.

Yao turns to boy and forces out a small, clearly fake smile on his face. " Yes. May I help you with anything, Jiao Long? " Funny, he's that link that makes Arthur and himself related to each other. He and Arthur has been competing for a long while just to see who's the better cousin. " Yao gege, do you like Arthur? " Yao sits on his bed, shocked and paled as he was expecting for a Math problem. Glances at the boy's forever-uninterested expression, Yao shakes his head slowly.

He doesn't really know for sure, actually.

x

Arthur slams his eyes shut, sighing at the world. He can hear the leaves rustling, feel the wind blowing at him and… " What an unpleasant surprise to see you here, Arthur. " Hear a cranky Chinese. Arthur slowly opens his eyes, only to see his expectations are right. " Every time I look at you I just want to… Argh! " Yao growls, still haven't forgotten what he did to him. Luckily, the British knows this is one of the best times to avoid him, as he recalls the last time, when he broke someone's car and a street light. Arthur stepped back quietly, spun and ran away, leaving behind the irritated Yao who's calling him a coward.

x

" Oh! Yao, you're improving. A lot! " Francis chimed in his pure French accent, twirling the other man. " I know I am a good teacher. " Yao grins at his small victory as he continues to waltz with the Frenchman, ignoring the admiring look on Alfred's face. By the time the week is over, Yao aced every dance Francis can thought of.

Alfred's eyes gleam in admiration and agitation as he flutters around the Asian. " Bro! Bro! How did'ya do that? It was awesome! " Yao smirks, saying that he's just a natural at dancing. He then quickly packs and walks him, whistling on the way.

Arriving at his own bedroom, Yao throws the bag on his bed. Hearing the 'thunk' sound of the bag landing on the soft mattress, he brings out a small smile. Walking to the unfinished canvas that has been placed nicely on the easel, he takes a small glance at the unfinished picture while pulling out a paintbrush. He's painting a windmill in the middle of a never-ending meadow. On top of it all, there will be a blue and deep, yet cloudless sky. It'll be perfect.

.

.

.

" _Yao gege. Hey Yao gege. What are you doing? " Yao could have sworn, he saw his eyes sparkled a bit in excitement while staring at his painting. The older Chinese beams brightly. " I am drawing a person! Hey Long, what should be the shirt's color? " Arthur, who was listening to the conversation mindlessly, butts in. " Green, obviously. " " Who was asking for your stupid opinion anyway? Red is obviously better! " " Oh yeah? .."_

" _It should be bwue… " Long murmurs quietly. The two older cousin freezes a bit at the small sound and smile in defeat. " Sure Long, which shade of blue? " The younger cousin smiles softly. " The sky's… I-it's pretty. "_

.

.

.

Yao can barely breathe from the hiccupping and sobbing, as he wishes to them to come back to how they were before. Watching some random children laughing with their friends from his window, all he can really do now is whimper and cry more. " Just like a girl " is what Arthur would describe him as right now. " Aiya… I feel… weak. " His hands are shaking terribly, as he watches the paintbrush falls down from it. 'Clang', it sounded.

Tears are falling.

x


	2. Brown tea

_Finally, chapter two is completed! Again, apologizes for any typos or mistakes!_

_да: Yes. (Which is obviously, 'da', his verbal tic)_

_泡沫奶茶: "foam milk tea," by direct translation, the Chinese name for bubble tea._

xxxxxx

Alfred walks around his friends, is thinking and making weird noises. After awhile, Ivan recorded: 10 minutes and 39 seconds, he stopped and grinned. " Dudes! " This is never good, everyone thought. " We should hold a celebration now that Yao can finally dance! " Everyone seems surprised at the nice idea he thought up. Arthur seems to be going with this as he nods his head. " Brilliant. We really should. " " But then…. Where to go? "

Ivan smiles at their thinking faces. " I have an idea, da. " The Russian knows Yao enjoys tea a lot.

x

" A bubble tea store…? " Yao asks, confused as ever. " _да_ " Alfred doesn't even care to spend a single moment waiting, as he jumps right into the store and bangs his fist on the counter. " I want to have a XL sized drink! Do you have that size here? " A employee that's been standing inside seems annoyed with this action of his as he answers the question with a 'no'. " Aw? Come on, no fair, ... " He glances down at the nametag " Lovino! "

Shoving Alfred aside, Arthur begins talking to Lovino in his most polite manner. " Well, we'll have… five cup of bubble tea, please.. " Lovino raises an eyebrow. " What flavor? " The question immediately sends them all to thinking mode.

Looking at his friends, who are now all choosing the flavor they want carefully, Yao can only break into a small smile and chuckles. " I guess … The original, milk tea for me. " After a long while, the other four finally chose what they want, mostly because of Alfred wanting all of the flavors in one, big sized cup and won't take any 'no' for it. Arthur opposed to the idea completely, though. The employee made a mildly small grunting sound and begins to mumble about how he has to work here out of all places while preparing the orders.

x

Settling down in a table near the window, Ivan only puts on a small smile, meaning 'My ideas are always nice, I should be the leader.', before fiddling around with the straw in his cup. Yao notices how the straw is bigger than an average one. " Yao, what do you call this drink in your language? " Francis asked, maybe out of random curiosity. " _泡沫奶茶_… " All did the Chinese gets back is a small nod of amusement while Francis himself lets his mind flies with the wind to some unknown wonderlands.

Alfred threw away his straw a long time ago and is currently taking a giant slurp of the chocolate tea. Arthur is chewing the black pearls from his mint tea. The tea is green, what a typical choice for him, Yao chuckles. Thinking that it's time to drink his own tea, he begins drinking it. He could easily taste and smells milk and tea from one cup, yet it's so different from the other kinds of tea, it's sweet. And the sweetness is just right. It is quite enjoyable to drink it, noted himself. He begins with the tea first and decided to save the pearls for later. The Chinese man finally found out why his siblings are almost addicted to this drink.

" H-hey bastards..! "

Here comes the unfriendly, potty-mouthed employee. Francis just merely rolls his eyes at his sight. Lovino slams the cup of bubble tea he was holding on the table, right in front of Arthur, almost spilled it's contains. " It's a buy f-five get on-e day… " Arthur winced slightly, but is able to regain his balances. " Dude! There is like, no sign saying it, but I'll glad to have a second cup! " Lovino looks slightly angered as the American snatches the cup and pours the tea down his throat while Arthur has to constantly reminds him about how he could choke on the pearls. All Ivan did throughout the scene is just sit there and smiles.

x

Now the quintet is walking by the lake after the tea. Ivan looks slightly pleased at how his friends like his idea. " Man… I hope we can still be, this town's Allied forces after graduation… " Alfred spoke out loud his thought. " Allied forces? What are you talking about, git? " The British seems disgruntled with the sudden loud noise.

" We are a group with five members, right? And we are American, English, French, Chinese and Russian! Dude, we're just like that Allied forces from World War II! " Alfred exclaims loudly, flailing his arms around. " And being the group's America is totally badass..! "

His four friends around him all break into a small smile. All of a sudden, they are now England, France, China and Russia, partners in the war, fighting the Axis. "America" puts his arms across "England" and "France" 's shoulders, pulling them closer. "Russia" immediately comes closer with his sincere, happy smile on the face, grabbing the French's arm. "England" tries to break a bit loose from the grip to hold "China" 's hand, pulling him closer. Ignoring the rosy cheeks of his, he almost immediately, laces their fingers firmly together.

" Then I should call Arthur… Opium. China and England had those Opium wars, right? " Yao almost shuttered at the beginning, flushing a bit. " From now on, Arthur will always be Opium to me. "

x

All that Francis noticed during the walk back to the bus stop was two people… countries with brightly pink cheeks having their fingers interlocked together. Hiding his smile under his silk scarf, he waits for the bus to come.


	3. Black out

" _Sometimes, I wonder if I could just …reach over whatever between us to grab you. I would ignore the distance between us to run towards the faraway-you, it won't matter, even when my legs fall limp. Then, I'd know, you were safe and sound ."_

X

He received a call from Arthur last night. He said he's taking Long for a trip to the amusement park. Now can just anyone guess where Wang Yao is now? Ping pong, the amusement park. Oh jolly gosh, you're correct. " I want to eat cotton candy! Ple-e-ease? " Oh, the inhumanity, he sighs. His wallet... It's so thin, after buying tickets to get inside here, paying for lunch, buying a balloon, oh God no….. Look at that stupid puppy face.

" Oh gosh, fine. When you get a toothache, don't come to me crying. " He quickly dismissed his sibling's begging and a satisfied grin lights the younger's face automatically. Arthur simply shoots him a sorta-glare, that guy was opposed to the idea of having cotton candies com-ple-te-ly. Yao supposes he's only saying 'okay' because it ticks Artie off.

" Pssh, Yao-Yao. I'm a totally grown man now. " Now look at your age. " I can handle toothaches like eating cakes. " That'd result in you having more toothaches, mister Jiao Long, now please stay quiet. He just rolls his eyes, heading towards the stall. The satisfaction on Jiao Long's face can't be simply explained by any word. Arthur just shakes his head as he gives out a quiet chuckle that remains unheard.

X

If he has to spill every single bean in the L-sized packet, he'd say enjoys the small trip a terrible lot.

That is, if. So he keeps his lips all zipped up for the time being.

X

After exiting the park, they then head towards another park after a few minutes of bickering. It isn't 'amusement' or 'happiness' or anything. It's just your neighborhood's lake-side park. People said that this is a natural lake so there are many sharp rocks hidden under the water like a natural booby trap that Mother Nature made to just freak us out. Of course there's no idiot that's stupid enough to swim in this lake… in the middle of winter, for crying out loud. And of course, all of that are just gossips he merely overheard from pesky housewives who've gotten nothing to do but talk.

Long is now seated on Arthur's shoulders, remain blissfully obvious for the latter's complaints about how he's heavier than he thought and how he dislikes carrying heavy things, despite the fact the he offered to carry him in the first place. After awhile, Long kicks his half-brother with full force with his heels, commenting sarcastically about how slow he's walking and demands him to speed up. Where did he learn how to sarcasm anyway? The half-brother obeys, " Fine, your majesty. Bluh bluh bluh. ", while sticking his tongue out. The majesty sticks his tongue out too, in defense.

X

They arrived at the park in one piece, so he guess he should be glad about that. They walk down the somewhat-narrow road by the side of the lake, only separated from the water by green patches of grass. It's a relaxing change from the crowded commotions in the amusement park to something less people-y and to the point of lacking humans.

" Can I put you down now? " Came a harsh " No " as a response. " Wow! May I remind you that you still have perfect bloody legs that are capable of walking, git? " " Perfect bloody legs? Wow, Arthur, I- " The balloon he bought just a few hours ago slips away from Long's fingers, striking Yao that a good 5 dollars is floating away. He mumbles a few words of distress as the balloon just fly aimlessly with the wind… flying and flying… until it got stuck on a tree near the water. We stares at the balloon, it stares back at us, from up there, mockingly. Jiao Long puffs his cheeks like a spoiled child. " So not fair. " But in a split second after, he stops puffing. Yao takes this as his way of wording 'I have a brilliant plan, listen'.

" Yao Yao, ge-ge dear… " His tone of voice is alarmingly out of character, it's frightening. " Can you climb that tree and fetch me the balloon? Please? "

Arthur immediately jolts up after hearing the full sentence, it's almost like he's wearing a giant-ass 'NO' on his expressions right now. " That's it, Long. That's it, Mr. Wang Jiao Long. That's it, Mr. Leon Kirkland. You've been spoiled for far too long, having too many people at your beck and call that you had forgotten w-" The British older sibling continues giving his half-sibling – who's lacking even the slightest attention - an earful rant.

Of course, Yao takes this as a wrong signal and feels that he – the one who's supposed to be opposed to Artie for the rest of his step-sibling rivalry – should do at least something. Something related to an 'yes'.

He coughs into his fist before beginning. " I'll do it. " He got his siblings' attentions directed at him. " It's okay. I've been climbing trees since I was a little child- "

" Why, you are such an smart-arse, aren't you? That tree is bloody tall! And I- Well… You w- Him!" He manages to blurt out outmost nonsense at the end of the sentences, what an achievement. Yao rolls his eyes and starts climbing anyway. " Arse. " " _Xièxiè_ "

X

If he could just… reach it. It's so close. Too close.

X

A sudden outburst of wind throws him off-balance. He slips off the branch and falls down into the lake.

X

Yao almost feels like time stopped for him during the fall. What seems like a second to others feels like minutes to him. He looks at the sky and sees the balloon untangling itself from the branch, preparing to fly off to nowhere until a bird pops it. And at some point, he forgets what he's doing in the first place. Why is he in this position? What day is it? Is it Thursday? Why was he looking at a balloon..?

" Yao! " A kid's voice screams, snapping him back to the tragic reality. And before he knows it, he crashes into the cold water, sinking deep down. He didn't have the chance to even conceal his mouth before diving into the water, leaving him with an open mouth through the event. He chokes on water, regrets not knowing how to swim or dive, gags and chokes, leaving air bubbles on his track of sinking to the bottom. 'How does mermaid breathe off this thing?' – He questions Disney loudly inside his mind, soon found the topic slightly off. And before realizing it, his consciousness begins to be swept away. His eyelids fall heavy and his visions start to get blurred out like shows on a shitty black and white TV. He struggles to stay awake, fears that if he black out, he'll probably hit one of those sharp rocks at the bottom on the back or head or something. Then, he gives up, falling into a state of unconsciousness and has nothing but comforting silence and darkness to cope with.

He doesn't know that there was someone dived into the lake to save him, then after that quickly dialed the ambulance to pick him up. He doesn't know that someone burst out crying almost instantly when he fell, and mumbles apologizes to him and blames himself for everything when he gets transferred to a hospital. He doesn't know that Arthur had to give Long a piggy back ride home because the little kid cried himself to sleep. He should have known all of that.


End file.
